"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
I want to take the bullet, the one aimed straight for your heart
I want to meet the wolves halfway, and let them tear me apart
But that's not the way they do it here
I want to lay on the tracks, feel hot steel screaming at me
Expose the bones on my back, let me show you what I mean
Yeah, it's a different kind of love
I want to climb barbed wire fences and warm our hands in blood
And this is my gift, asking you to fix my ruined hands
And it's a gift that keeps on giving, and right now it's all I have to give
I want to write the perfect song, and play it just for you
While you're tangled up in sleep
I need you more that I'll ever know
Until I stop breathing, my lungs will take you for granted
I want to meet the wolves halfway, and let them tear me apart
But that's not the way they do it here
I want to lay on the tracks, feel hot steel screaming at me
Expose the bones on my back, let me show you what I mean
Yeah, it's a different kind of love
I want to climb barbed wire fences and warm our hands in blood
And this is my gift, asking you to fix my ruined hands
And it's a gift that keeps on giving, and right now it's all I have to give
I want to write the perfect song, and play it just for you
While you're tangled up in sleep
I need you more that I'll ever know
Until I stop breathing, my lungs will take you for granted
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
i think this song is about either love or god... which are pretty much one in the same... think about it, the meaning will be different for everyone
This song is clearly about devotion and self-sacrifice. i noticed in The Odyssey there is a line "be brave, you too, so that men in times to come will speak well of you", and i think that's where the title comes from, except they changed "times" to "years"
I think this song is a romantic song because it refers to love, but I have never felt that it's a positive side of love. To me it seems as if the protagonist can't quite catch his intended lover's attention with any "skills/abilities/qualities" he possesses, so he has to resort to "pity love". It sounds as if he doesn't have enough to offer her, so he will prove his love by physically hurting himself, and expect she will love him back out of pity.
As beautiful as "while you are tangled up in sleep" seems, it shows me more of a total indifference to him.
"and this is my gift: is asking you to fix my ruined hands" - just pitifully and painfully sad.
If you watch the video clip of "Você Pode Ir Na Janela", by the Brazilian band Gram, you'll see what I see.
Well, that's my opinion. Hope you all agree :D
ps- I think this song is perfect and amazing...
Support Thrice and buy the new album subcity.net
This is one of the most incredible songs I have heard in a longtime. It's almost scary how intelligent Thrice has become, as their lyrics evolve more and more with each album. By using the ultimate sacrifice, they are able to show complete passion and emotion in an emotional song that even passes the level of "In Your Hands".
this song is one of the reasons i love thrice. they are just so good at writing lyrics and putting them to music just right, or at least i think so.
i took it upon myself to make this the most viewed thrice song... just cuz it roolz
the only song that is better than this is the decline. if this sone was over 18mins long, it was be better than the decline :D
that last paragraph is beautiful
I agree with davethefan, the whole song is beautiful, especially the last verse. I love Thrice's harmoneys. It's hard to say which of their songs is my favorite, this one is up there though.